Second Chances
by Tohno-kun
Summary: Having nothing left for them in the future, Naruto and Gaara both go back to before things went wrong. AU Time Travel. NaruHina. Gaara?
1. More Than Great

**Standard Disclaimers Apply**

**Story Summary:  
With nothing left in the future Naruto and Gaara travel back to before every thing went wrong. AU Time Travel. Naru/Hina, Gaara?.**

**Author's Notes:  
Alright guys and gals, I know I chould actually be doing my chool work or actually trying to finish one of my other stories but I had this idea and I had to go with it. If I didn't, it would probably keep me up at night. I already have insomniatic tendencies, I don't need them getting worse so here. Enjoy!**

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**_Chapter One  
More Than Great_**

He woke with a start, a panicked start. The sheets felt unfamiliar to his usual sleeping bag that he had slept in every night since the fall of Konoha. The air did not smell the same to his demon enhanced senses as the cold mountain air he smelled for the last week or so. There was something covering his eyes blocking his sight. His eyes were sore but he had to see what was going on. His hands reached up to tear them off when…

"I wouldn't do that if I was you, Naruto" stated a calm voice. Naruto could trace a large bout of sadness and regret hidden in his words.

"Who are you? Where am I? W- What happened?"

"It's me Naruto, the Hokage. You know the one that you have been trying to steal the title from since the day you could talk properly. You're in the hospital at the moment and about what happened, that's exactly what I wanted to know?"

That couldn't be right. There hasn't been a Hokage since Tsunade had died. He just couldn't take up the courage to become Hokage after that. What's the point of being Hokage if near enough all of Konoha's people have been murdered? The old man's voice went on to continue.

"When I found you a week ago, you were in a bad shape and there was so much blood in your room. I honestly thought that you could have died before I could get you to the hospital. The doctors here have done the best they could but your eyes were so damaged. They really tried but we will have to wait to see if they heal correctly. I know that this must be traumatic for a six year old to go through but could you tell me what you last remember?"

_'Wait, six year old? But the last time I checked I was twenty-four.'_ thought Naruto. He asked, "Pardon, could you say that again?"

"I said; I know that this must be traumatic for a six year old to go through but could you tell me what you last remember?"

_'Six years old…'_ Then it hit him; everything was coming back to him now. All the memories of how he got to this point were returning to him now.

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_The wind had picked up now and the moon was high in the sky, its full face shining onto the spot that they were located on the mountain. He turned to Gaara, "It starts now."_

_Both got into the ready stance and called upon the strength of their respective demons, who gladly complied. Going through intricate hand seals which were perfectly symmetrical to the other, they made the final preparations for their plan. _

_"Remember, try to keep it as close as possible to the normal timeline, we cannot deviate too far or our knowledge of 'future events' will not be effective when necessary" shouted Gaara over the raging winds that erupted when they started. _

_Naruto could only grin. "Okay, it'll just make it more of a surprise to people when we show who we really are like in the Chunnin exams, but Gaara… try not to kill too many people like before." _

_"I'll try" _

_"That's all I could ask. So, we are going to be dumped into the timeline as six years old right." _

_"Right. Oh, be warned. That Sharingan you stole from the Uchiha bastard will go with you and they will replace your eyes again. Your body won't be as developed and you will not heal it as smoothly this time." _

_"Don't worry. I'll survive. I survived everything else didn't I? I survived the Chuunin exams, I survived my fight with you, I survived the showdown with that Uchiha-teme in the valley of the end, I saved you and Shukaku from the Akatsuki, I survived killing that Sasuke-teme, I survived the downfall of my village, and I survived after she was taken from me. I can survive this." _

_"Just making sure…" They both had lost a lot in the wars that plagued the world now. Orochimaru had started another great Ninja War. They had nothing left. Even if they won, it wouldn't be worth it unless… It was a crazy plan given to them by their demons but what was there to lose through trying. They had nothing left. _

_"Well, I guess this is it. See you on the other side partner" stated Naruto as he neared to the end of the long list of seals necessary. _

_"See you on the other side friend" retorted Gaara, bringing back his fist which was surrounded in an intense cloud of chakra, which of course was mirrored by Naruto. _

_Naruto could only grin at Gaara's statement. As their fists were about to collide, he said, "Yeah, friend…" _

_A few hours later, a scout from Orochimaru's army would finally reach the location of the large chakra explosion only to find two very charred bodies lying in a massive crater which had been blown from the side of the mountain. _

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"Naruto!" yelled the third Hokage trying to catch Naruto's attention. Naruto's attention now returned to the present instead of the confusing past/future. "Now that you're paying attention, would you mind answering my question?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary happened. The last thing I remember was finishing off my cup ramen before going to bed. Why do these things always happen to me?"

"Don't worry Naruto. Things will get better eventually. They will all see what a wonderful person you actually are. I'm sorry this had to happen to you. I must go now; I have work that I have to finish but I promise to visit."

He ruffled up Naruto's hair a bit before departing with a farewell. Once Naruto was alone, he could properly let the information sink in. _'It worked. It actually worked. I have a second chance and this time it'll all be better. They won't have to die. I'll make sure all my precious people will survive this time. Iruka, Kakashi, Ero-sennin, Tsunade-baa-chan, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan… even you old man. This time, it'll all be different, it'll all be better.'_

His ranting elation was interrupted by another voice from the side of his room. "Greetings, I bear a message from Gaara-sama and Shukaku-sama. They ask if you had arrived properly and if there were any problems."

'Gaara must have one of those lower racoons.' "Tell him that I had one problem but I am getting through it. Things are great, really great. The plan can go on as scheduled."

The racoon nodded and jumped out of the window it got in from. Naruto went back to his thoughts and for once in so long a time, a real smile (full of the old trademarked Naruto happiness) graced his face.

"No, not great… Things are more than great."

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**End Chapter One**

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**Author's Notes:  
Again I apologise to any of those who are waiting on my other stories. By May I should be able to write a lot more often, but this just needed to get out of my system. From May, my top priorities will be 'Me and My Dark Side' (I had a really good response to this. People who read this may have thought that I abandoned it but that will soon change), 'The World Not As He Knew It' (This more humourous fic is a great challenge and really fun to write about, the drafts for the next few chapters are great) and this story (because Gaara just rocks). On a side note, Gaara will in a couple of chapters start to play a larger part and I will try to develop his personality (Shukaku isn't bothering him anymore). Well, gotta go. Hoping to write another chapter soon.**

**-deranged without glasses-**


	2. Staying And Leaving

**Standard Disclaimers Apply.**

**Author's Notes:  
Yeah, again I should be working on other things but I had to run with this story. In this chapter, I put in some info for Naruto's Sharingan, some more story line of Gaara who will start having a larger part in the story soon. Also I have tried my hand at slight fluff as well. It'll get better in later chapters I hope. Well anyways, enjoy! **

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_Chapter Two  
_**_Staying and Leaving _**

He had been in the hospital for three weeks now and he was getting a bit worried. How would he explain to them about his Sharingan? Not only were his eyes no longer a bright sky blue but he could not deactivate his Sharingan. With his chakra stores as high as they were even without Kyubi he had enough for it to be on at all times but there was going to be no way for him to be able to explain to them how he had the Uchiha's bloodline limit.

They gave him some privacy. It seemed the decent thing to do; there was a chance that even though his eyes should be healed by now that he wouldn't be able to see. When he was admitted to the hospital, there were barely any eyes left. They had been damaged so badly that it was barely recognisable. They did not even think they would be able to heal him; it had only been the intervention of Kyubi that had restored his eyes. Though it was miraculous that their healing jutsu were having such a fast effect (What idiots!), the doctors were still not sure if he would still be able to see.

He had sat in front of the mirror they put in his room for a few minutes now and he had to do something. Unwrapping the bandages slowly, he finally was able to open his eyes. After getting used to the light, he finally faced the mirror and was shocked at what he saw.

He was exactly like his six year old self, just like he remembered himself. His hair was short, blond and spiky, there were three prominent whisker marks on each cheek and the weirdest thing was that his eyes were blue.

_'What the hell… how?' _

**'I was hoping this would happen' **

_'Kyubi, what are you talking about?' _Ever since Naruto happened to coincidentally pass all the requirements for a demon fox's rite of passage ritual, Kyubi had grown a respect for the boy and was very helpful in making his host one of the strongest ninjas possible.

They were partway through the melding ritual which would make them inseparable so they would not be susceptible to the Akatsuki and also allow for Naruto to accept much more of Kyubi's power. It was just a waste that it was locked up in Naruto's mind.

**'It seems that because your old eyes were not cleanly and surgically removed and replaced that my chakra immediately went to heal you fixing them to be as close to their original as always. It seems they have melded the physical looks of your old eyes with the internal workings of our new ones.' **

_'You mean…' _

**'Yes, try them out. You have to get used to activating them on your own.' **

Staring at his eyes in his reflection he channelled more chakra to his eyes and the effects were instantaneous. His blue eyes became much darker and three comma marks could be seen around the rim of the iris. A joyous laugh escaped his mouth. Things just got a lot less complicated.

**'I think that it has now been imprinted in your genetic signature. There is a chance your children could gain the Sharingan now.' **

_'Hey, if this is ingrained in my genetics now, do you think I might be able to unlock the Mangekyou Sharingan then?' _

'I expect that will be a possibility. Be prepared, I sense people approaching this room.'

Turning off his stolen Sharingan, he looked to the door as the Sandaime and the doctors entered the room. He could notice some of the hurtful glares from a majority of the doctors but he didn't care at the moment. Things were perfect.

"So it seems that you are perfectly fine. Good, when you get let out after a check up, we can go shopping. We have to get ready for your first days at the academy, don't we? It's only a couple of days away" said the third Hokage, a smile gracing his features.

Things definitely were perfect.

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**A couple of months later…**

Gaara of the Desert was stalking down the dusty road to his home. The crowd were giving him a wide birth. I had been six months since his first assassination and the death of his uncle. The monster, as he was known as, had become very violent at even the slightest of grievances. The crowd were smart to avoid trouble.

As he got into his apartment that he shared with his siblings ever since his uncle had tried to kill him, he quickly made his way to his room and closed the door bypassing his panic stricken brother and sister. They still haven't gotten used to living with Gaara.

Entering the room, Gaara went straight to the bed and pushed at the figure in his bed. The figure immediately woke up and punched him in the face. Gaara went into the wall bursting into a mist of sand.

The real Gaara got out of bed and went about making the sand reconstitute back into a gourd. "I really need to learn to sleep better. It's been four months and I still haven't gotten into a good sleep pattern. WHY AM I ALWAYS CURSED WITH INSOMNIA?"

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"WHY AM I ALWAYS CURSED WITH INSOMNIA?" Temari and Kankurou stopped in their tracks and looked towards Gaara's room. 

"So, maybe we should go out for dinner tonight" suggested Temari. Kankurou was already gone and there was even a Kankurou shaped cloud where he used to be. "Coward!"

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Naruto just got back from a training trip in the mountains. Nobody knew he was gone. As far as everybody was concerned, he had been in the academy for the last five days. It was close to sunset and he was heading to the academy training fields where his clone would be putting up the pretence of trying to train his kunai skills well into the day. 

He was rounding the corner when he caught a head of blue-black hair hiding out of view from the clone by a tree. Unfortunately for her, Naruto could see her quite clearly. Hiding behind a tree himself and looked on as Hinata gazed on at the hard working clone. Naruto could only smile; he was seeing it in action. She was falling in love with him; this was where all those feeling she had told him about before she died in his arms started. He was seeing it all happening from an external view and it brought a smile to his lips.

"O, isn't it cute? She's starting to develop those stalking tendencies. I promise you Hinata, from the exam, I'll tell you everything and I'll pay you back for all those times I failed to notice your loving stares." He spent the next twenty minutes watching lovingly at the girl watching lovingly the boy trying to dislodge a kunai that was heavily embedded into the tree. He never got the kunai out.

* * *

**Over two years later…**

"Now, you know what to do right?" asked Naruto.

"Of course; eat ramen, play pranks, do poorly in school and be as loudmouthed as I can" replied the clone while saluting.

"Now, I infused you with so much chakra you are actually sentient. You have higher chakra abilities compared to other clones and you can actually become hurt without disappearing. Remember, this doesn't make you immortal. Try staying as close to the old timeline as possible. You got that?"

"Yes Boss."

"Great, I'll see you in a few years, but I'll definitely be back by graduation okay" said Naruto as he left quietly into the night. He was old enough now for his body to handle the concluding part of the merging ritual. Once completed, he would have to try to train with Gaara who was also going through with the merger to get used to their new powers.

It would be three years before he returned back.

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**End Chapter Two**

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**Author's Notes:  
So there is a new chapter of 'Second Chances'. The next chapter will have** **Naruto's return and the beginning of the Wave Country Arc with some edited details. I also plan to make sure Zabuza and Haku live through this. It would also be helpful if you could suggest a suitable pairing for Gaara, it can be rediculous as you like because Gaara will start acting more strange (ie. Have emotions). Well hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll try to write soon. **


	3. Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

**Standard Disclaimers Apply**

**Author's Note:  
So guys, it is finally the Easter holidays and I have handed in all but my IT assignments. Apart from that, I have two glorious weeks of rest and relawation which is why I can update this story, which is really getting a good response. Thanks to all those who reviewed. I actally got around to making some plans, and to the whole Gaara pairing thing, it will eventually become definate but I thought it would be funnier if he went on random dates with a load of konochi and see what happens from there. These will start happening after the revelation that will take place after the Chuunin exam. Anyways, enjoy!**

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_Chapter three  
_**_Getting Back Into the Swing of Things… Almost_**

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It had been three years, three long years since he last saw Konoha and today was the day he would come back. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing. Konoha was looking beautiful. He was glad to be back.

Naruto had been gone for three years and if things were like they were planned, no one would have noticed it. During the first year, Naruto and Gaara had gone and helped each other go through with their demon bonding rituals. Naruto's and Kyubi's chakra were now interchangeable and the link between them had been strengthened.

After that, he and Gaara had travelled for a year and a half taking mercenary jobs to train their new powers and it was heavily successful as proven by the large amount of money they earned. They would have returned six months ago if they hadn't come across a vacation town, which had everything. There were gyms, casinos, bars, ramen stands (for Naruto) and karaoke bars (it was Gaara's one great weakness). Spending some time (and a lot of their money) just not worrying about ninja work they were able to relax, but today would be the day that they had to get back to work.

Naruto snuck into his apartment through the bedroom window and saw his clone packing his backpack. After greeting him, the clone went on to inform Naruto that they had just been given their first C ranked mission.

"Good, good. We can actually get started with the actual plans. Did you go through with what I told you to do or did you forget it?" asked Naruto.

"No sir!" replied the clone while saluting. "When I stole the forbidden scroll, I immediately went to memorising the whole thing. When I am dismissed, all of this should be absorbed into your mind."

"Good, then you are dismissed then." The shadow clone disappeared in a plume of smoke and Naruto went to finish packing his bag. During which, the information for the all kinjutsu that the clone had learned was steadily being absorbed into his mind. According to the clone, he was supposed to meet team seven in an hour so he had better hurry and start to act in character.

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**An hour later…**

"Hi Sakura-chan! Hi Sasuke-teme!" shouted Naruto as his team mates came into view. He was rewarded by a punch in the face by Sakura for calling her 'precious Sasuke-kun' that and a "Shut Up, Dobe!" by Sasuke. Naruto had to admit, besides from the head trauma and the deflation of his ego, he had surely missed this.

Team seven in its early days had their problems but it was their high point. It all started here, with Sasuke's obsession with the killing of his brother and his adamant decision to accept no help from others, and Sakura's infatuation with Sasuke. They had all lead to their demise.

He remembered it very clearly as the memory had etched itself into his nightmares after it happened. He remembered how in the space of one day, he had become the only surviving member of team seven.

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"Sakura! He's caught, kill him now!" yelled Naruto lying beneath a large pile of rocks, coughing up blood. He may have been stuck but he was still able to set up traps. Sasuke was now caught in one of said traps and was struggling to break free, but he was an easy kill in that position. Sakura however didn't seem to want to take that chance. 

"I, I, I can't do it. It's, it's Sasuke-kun" stuttered Sakura. She had frozen in place standing in front of Sasuke.

"Sakura, he's not the same man you love anymore. He's betrayed us and he's killed our comrades. Kakashi, Ino, Shikamaru, Shino and Hinata; all of them were murdered by him. Don't let him get away with all of that!" shouted Naruto in desperation. They were so close, so close to stop him just to stumble at the finish line. Tears were running down his face as he knew what she would do.

"I can't! I can't kill him!" screamed Sakura, sinking to her knees as Sasuke finally broke free and now stood towering over Sakura.

"Of course, you can't do it. You're weak, and you've always been weak. Those pathetic dreams of yours have always been just that; pathetic. That's why I never loved you." The last thing Sakura saw through teary eyes before death took her, was Sasuke swinging a kunai at her face.

As Sakura's body hit the floor and her blood splattered the ground beside it, Naruto snapped. Sasuke could feel an immense increase of Chakra coming from the direction that he had buried Naruto in earlier and upon looking that way, he was surprised to see Naruto throw off fifty tonnes of rock like they were nothing. The red chakra was covering him again.

"Sasuke. It's all your fault. Everything. It all started with you. I had never broken a promise before I failed to bring you back to the village and ever since then, more and more times have I failed to uphold my promises. I promised on Hinata's grave that I wouldn't let you harm another of my precious people and I have failed again. Now, I see the truth. To truly keep that promise, I have to want to kill you and then I will kill you. This time, I'm keeping my promises."

Sasuke was surprised by the large killer intent that was pouring off of Naruto that was in fact the largest he had ever felt and also by the flecks of black chakra that was forming in his aura as well. He knew about Naruto's powers ever since the battle in the Valley of the End, but what he showed there was nothing compared to what raw power he was showing now, just by standing there. Sasuke took a fighting stance ready for the worst. Apparently, he wasn't prepared enough.

Naruto just disappeared. Not even his Sharingan could detect what had happened and before he knew it he found a large black, burning claw sticking out the front of his chest. The pain was intense, the foreign chakra was invading his body and turning off his chakra coils and stopping living functions. With his mouth spluttering blood, he turned around to see a thing of nightmares. A flaming black monster with four large tails was behind him with its arm imbedded into him. When it spoke, it sent shivers down Sasuke's spine, "I guess you were wrong Sasuke. I am more special than you."

And with that, Sasuke's heart beat its last beat and his brain received its last signal. His final thoughts were 'How could the Dobe beat me? Now I can never avenge my clan.' As Sasuke's corpse fell to the ground to join Sakura's, the black chakra dissipated and left an extremely burnt Naruto. "I did it."

_'You sure did.'_ Naruto looked around franticly for the source of the voice. In his condition, he would be easy prey for enemy ninja. _'Baka! It's me, Kyuubi.'_

_'What? How are you talking to me? What's going on?' _

_'What's not important is how. What is important is the fact that you are now worthy.' _

_'Worthy? What the heck am I worthy of? I just murdered my best friend!' _

_'But you did it all in the name of others to stop the further harming of the innocents. You have experienced true pain and have accepted the need to kill. You, Kit, have passed the Rites of Passage. You are now worthy of all the powers I am about to give you.' _

Naruto only had enough time to understand that before the pain hit him. This was worse than anything he had felt before, even worse than a Chidori through the chest. It lasted for a few moments before it finally subsided.

When his brain functioned normally again after the pain, Naruto found that he could smell the blood much better. He could even distinguish between the two separate scents. His eyesight had improved that he could see clearly a mile away. His hearing was so good; he could hear the individual gusts of wind. All his burns were healed as well. Kyuubi decided to stop his self examination here, _'Kit, take the bodies and go to Tsunade.' _

_'I can understand taking back Sakura's body. I was going to do that anyways, but why do I have to take back that Teme's body.' _

_'Because, my young Kit, we are going to need his eyes and I am certain that Tsunade will know exactly how to help us with that…' _

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Naruto was broken out of his reminiscing by the yell of you're late by Sakura yell of "You're late!" Naruto's blue eyes that hid the powers he had taken from the future Sasuke fell upon Kakashi as he made his way to their meeting point while having his head buried in his perverted novel with their client, Tazuna in tow. 

Surprisingly he was only half an hour late and that was probably due to picking up the client. When Kakashi actually looked at his team after putting his book away, his eyebrow rose a bit. "Naruto, did you get taller in the last, I don't know… few hours?"

"No. Why did you ask?"

"Nothing, no reason at all" replied Kakashi casually. '_This is weird. This morning, Naruto was shorter than both Sasuke and Sakura but now he's on par. Something isn't right.'_

"Come on, let's go already" whined Naruto. '_Or maybe I was being too paranoid, that definitely sounds like the same Naruto_. _Maybe he got new sandals or something. It's best not to mention it; I remember how agitated he gets when someone mentions about his lack of height.' _

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**A few hours later… **

They had been walking for a while now and the hot weather was making it a lot more unbearable than it should have been. The constant drone of Naruto's voice wasn't making it better either. "So I then had to go to the super market because I found out that the cup ramen I ate for lunch was actually my last. Boy, what a day that was…"

Sakura exploded at this point. "Shut up!" Naruto went quiet and his head hung low and a smile could briefly be seen gracing his lips. _'Ah, just like old times…'_

The blond haired genin went on to check his equipment. He had all his kunai, he had quite a lot of shuriken and he had a large bunch of explosive notes on him as well. He took out a 50 pack. "Ah, the good old explosive notes. Small but quite deadly. I would say a necessary ninja tool to-"

He was cut off however when he tripped over a small rock on the path and his face collided with the dirt. His pack of explosive note however, fell out of his hands and travelled quite a distance landing in a puddle that looked really out of place in the scorching heat when it has not rained for days (hint, hint). Said explosive notes exploded.

"NO! Not my explosive notes." He rummaged through his orange jacket and upon finding another pack, he immediately calmed down. "Don't worry guys; I had a spare pack on me. See what a great ninja I am? I am so prepared for anything."

"Baka!" and "Dobe!" were all that could be heard from Sakura and Sasuke as they yelled at him completely ignoring the puddle. Tazuna was shaking his head at this but Kakashi was deep in thought. _'He knew about that puddle. I don't know how but he knew. That was a set up. Who are you really Naruto?'_

They all now walked passed the unnoticed puddle which was gradually getting redder and redder. Naruto was grinning to himself. _'That was definitely a job well done. Let's see what else I could do to put them off my track…'_

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**End Chapter Three**

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**Author's Notes:  
Okay, hoped you liked it. That was as close as I have ever gone to writing a battle scene and I thought why not go progressively and work myself up to an actual fight instead of a Sasuke killing. In the next chapter, Zabuza attacks and a certain Sharingan user in disguise saves the day. Plus, we get to see one of Naruto's new abilities. **

**Hoping to write soon,  
deranged without glasses**


	4. That's What Family Does

**Standard Disclaimers Apply**

**Author's Notes:  
Alright, I was reading the review and one of them really struck me. I haven't been giving enough attention to Gaara. So this whole chapter will be Gaara centric and in truth should have been a one-shot spin off of its own but I thought it would be a good transistion before the arrival of Zabuza and Haku. As you will probably note from this chapter, I am a big Temari fan and also a TemaShika fan and this will be one of the later pairings although I don't foresee much of it as I am not used to romance. This chapter is a whole lot of angst, like the last chapter but longer. There will be yet again another flahback. Don't worry, apart from this one there will only be one left and that will be during the preliminaries for the sake of forwarding the romance of the main pairing. This chapter was inspired in spirit by the phrase below the chapter title, from the ever great Bleach.**

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_**Chapter Four  
**__**That's What Family Does**_

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**People have hope  
****Because they cannot see death standing behind them**

**-Bleach Vol. 2 Goodbye Parakeet, Goodnight My Sister-**

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Gaara awoke to some sort of prodding into his side. Looking to the left, he saw his sister Temari at the doorway poking him with an overly long stick. "Um what are you doing Temari?" 

"I was checking to see if you were alive. I've never… ever seen you sleep before. I mean, you only use your bed as a couch before. There's something weird going on here" said Temari with a scared look on her face.

_'Oh damn it, can't I get some rest without someone getting on my case' _thought Gaara

_'Never mind about that; the girl knows something is up. All our plans could be ruined. Quick, act like the old Gaara before something worse happens' _shrieked Shukaku. He had been a lot calmer since the merging when parts of their personalities merged but now that he sensed a danger, he went into full panic mode.

"What would it matter if I did die to you? I am a monster, you know" said Gaara quick coldly to Temari who was shaking at the knees at the moment. He turned his head to stare at Temari in the eyes. "Why does it matter to you?"

"B-because I'm your sister, in fact I'm your older sister; I should be looking after you. That's what family does." Gaara was happy to hear this. Temari was the only semblance of family he had apart from Naruto. Kankurou was always too scared to actually be brotherly towards Gaara but Temari had grown into her role perfectly.

But those words were just like her last. He remembered that day well, it was when he had lost his family, and it was when he lost everything he had left to live for.

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Gaara was coughing up blood. He hadn't been in this much pain ever. The closest was when he was sorely beaten by Naruto after the Chuunin Exams were interrupted but this heavily outweighed it. Not only was there physical pain but he felt a pain even worse than when the children ran away from him when he was young, even worse when they would call him a monster when they thought he couldn't hear and even worse than when he found that Yashamaru had hated him all along and had truly desired his death. 

_'The bastards tried to take away Shukaku and were just going to leave me to die. It felt like my soul was being ripped apart'_ thought Gaara. _'Damn Akatsuki. This is the second time they tried to take me. If it hadn't been for Naruto being there both times, I would have died or have Shukaku ripped from me.'_

Said blond was holding up Gaara with his arm over his shoulder, supporting Gaara's weight. He was extremely bloodied and his clothing had large gashes in it. Of course, Gaara didn't look any better. Naruto's red eyes with three commas around each iris were scanning down the multitude of corridors that veered off from the junction they were at. This was just terrific. They weren't in the best shape and they were lost in the middle of Akatsuki Headquarters. Temari wasn't strong enough to help the others; she had to hold herself up with her fan.

"Damn it! I did not come all the way here to save Gaara, wind up killing Itachi and Kisame to finally end up becoming lost when we're so close to escaping!" shouted Naruto. "We're so close!"

"I don't think you should have done that" said Temari.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"Because I think they heard you, my friend" said Gaara in a hoarse voice. Indeed there were some distant sounds coming from behind them now and it was starting to get louder. Naruto had only one thing to say, "O crap!"

"You two go. I'll hold them off" Temari yelled at the other two. Gaara looked at her with a quizzical stare and said, "But…"

"I said 'GO'!" shouted Temari. Naruto went on dragging Gaara with a new vigour at this. Gaara was still somewhat confused. _'What does Temari think she's doing? She can't defeat all of them so what could she be thinking?'_

They were very far away now. Temari couldn't be seen anymore but they could still hear her and the attackers that had reached her. "What are you doing? Do you honestly think you can stop us?"

"No. But at least I'll buy them time" retorted Temari, the defiance clear in her tone.

"Why would you do a thing like that? Doesn't your own life mean a bit more than anyone else's? Why would you give up your life like this?"

"Because he's my brother, and I'm his older sister. **I** should be the one looking after him not be looked after by him. I already lost my brother, Kankurou and my lover, Shikamaru, but there sure is no damn way in hell I'm gonna lose the last of my precious people. I'll give my life if that meant that he would live on. That's what families do." And with that they heard Temari give out a loud battle cry and the sound of large gales of wind. Gaara had tears in his eyes when the winds abruptly stopped. He completely broke down at that point.

"Gaara, Gaara, snap out of it. We have to be calm and all together or we won't make it out of this. Your sister died to make sure we, no, you could live. Don't make your sister's death a pointless one."

Gaara now had sunk to the floor and wouldn't move. "What's the point though? We have lost everything now. There's nothing left for us anymore. Wouldn't it be better just to die?"

"No! I promised to finish Orochimaru and to destroy the Akatsuki. I can't break anymore promises. I promise on your sister's love for you that you will not die before me, and I plan to live for a long time after this" Gaara was still shaken and frozen to the floor.

_'Kyuubi, I need something… anything you can give me. We need to make it out of this alive.' _

_'Okay then. Make a summon now.' _

_'Why? In this confined space, my frogs will be able to effectively battle and I can't even summon the higher level ones with this amount of space.' _

_'Damn it Kit! Just do it now!' _

Sliding his thumb across his blood soaked jacket he made the necessary hand seals and thrust his hand at the floor yelling, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" When the smoke cleared however, Naruto was surprised to see not a frog but a large wolf sized fox with five tails flowing from its back.

Turning its head towards Naruto it spoke, "Do not worry Naruto-sama, Kyuubi-sama. I will make sure you and your comrade will be taken to a safe place after I have dispatched of your pursuers."

That was all the confirmation Naruto needed before he passed out from exhaustion. The fox stared down the corridor that the remaining members of the Akatsuki were running down and opening its mouth, the temperature in the room increased tenfold until finally the fox released a large burst of flames down the corridor. There was no escape for the four that had been chasing them.

Using its tails to pick up the unconscious Naruto and the still quavering Gaara, and putting them on his back, the fox ran towards the nearest forest.

Dismissing itself when Naruto was safely in a sleeping bag and resting and Gaara was a little more stable, the fox left the two Jinchuriki. Gaara was contemplating the events that had just transpired. _'They're all dead but I should still live on and make sure things like this can never happen to other people again. But how? Is there any way to stop Orochimaru with just the two of us?'_

_'There is a way. And there are actually four of us.' _

"Who said that? Who's there?" said Gaara searching through the tree trunks for any signs of the source of the voice.

_'Gaara, it's me, Shukaku.' _

_'But if you can break out of your hold now, why aren't you taking over me?' _

_'Because you are now worthy; you have experienced pain and suffering that no living being should have to face. There is a way to make everything better.' _

_'How? Any way and we need it.' _

_'It's a crazy plan and Kyuubi knows of it better than I. It will take a while to hone but you will be able to start anew. And we will be making you stronger along the way.' _

_'Starting anew… yeah, that sounds great. We will be able to see everyone again won't we?' _

_'Yes, we shall.' _

_'We will be able to see them all again… Kankurou, Hinata… Temari…' _

_'Yes, now the only question is, are you willing to do it?' _

_'What sort of stupid question is that? If Naruto was awake, he would jump at the chance to say this but I'll have to do it… Hell yeah we're doing it. This time we won't fail. This time we won't lose our precious people. We promise and we don't break our promises, because that's our ninja way…' _

* * *

As Gaara's thoughts travelled back to a year before they made the time jump, his hand moved over his chest and clenched into a fist. No one could see but his chest was covered in scars from everything he had to go through but they were covered by his armour of sand which he was now powerful enough to use all the time without wearing him out. 

What it couldn't cover however were the scars of the heart that Gaara had learnt about all those many years ago from Yashamaru and for the briefest of seconds, Temari could see such pain and sorrow in Gaara's otherwise emotionless eyes.

"Gaara" whispered Temari, her face full of concern. Gaara snapped out of his trance and looked up at Temari with the usual cold eyes. He said, "I have wasted enough time here. I have to go."

Taking his gourd, Gaara left the apartment leaving Temari to stand in the same spot she was when he left, contemplating what had just occurred and wondering what did she really know of he little brother.

When Kankurou returned later he was surprised that his sister was not her usual bossy self and he chose not to question it.

* * *

Gaara was lying on the roof, his gourd at his side, looking up at the stars as they flickered into life in the night sky. He held an arm out and shaped his palm around the image of the brightest star in the sky. 

"Why did you do it? Why did you do those things even though you knew death was coming?" He clenched his hand into a fist which blocked out the light of that star from his view. "I think I understand now; it was hope. Thank you for believing in me, I owe you so much…"

"I promise I will protect you, Kankurou and even my annoying brother Naruto, though he will never find out that I think of him as a brother. I won't let anything happen to you this time. I'll look after you, because that's what family does…"

The stars in the sky seemed to agree as they brightened faster than they had been before. Gaara took comfort in that and went to sleep, right there on the roof. Later, he would wake up to find a blanket covering him. He had no doubt who had put it there. He spoke out loud to no one, "Thank you."

Temari hiding out of sight heard this and silently mouthed, "Don't worry about it, little brother. That's what family does."

* * *

**End Chapter Four**

* * *

Author's Notes:  
This was a really great chapter to write and surprisingly very easy to write. It just flowed so easily. This is my first try at angst as well as the main genre so tell me what you think. I am deviating away slightly from the normal line but then again, Gaara and Naruto are not perfect as proven by this chapter. I also liked the interaction between Gaara and Temari. In the next chapter, we will actually see a glimps of Naruto's new skill and power in the fight against Zabuza although it will probably end in the same way. After which we will have a shirt transistion bit and then the final Zabuza/Haku fight where they will live. Feel free to review and tell me what you think.

Hoping to write soon  
Deranged Without Glasses


	5. Shadow Play

**Standard Disclaimers Apply**

**Author's Notes:  
Yeah so here's a new chapter. I've been having some people ask me to make longer chapters andmy response to that is I can't. All my chapters are at a length that is comfortable to me and end where thay make sense to me. On a good note, this chapter is longer than the rest by quite a bit. This chapter just went on and on and actually was much longer than it is now. I split it into two chapters and I will post the next chapter faster than I normally would. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

_**Chapter Five  
Shadow Play**_

* * *

**I can't protect you without holding a sword  
****I can't embrace you while holding a sword**

**-Bleach Vol. 5 Right Arm of the Giant-**

* * *

Naruto was using the lull in activity while travelling in the small boat that would complete the last leg of the trip to the shores of Wave Country to assess all the extra knowledge he had gotten from his clone before he had dismissed it. 

Oddly enough, he knew most of the techniques already thanks to the Kyuubi and most of the scroll was actually theory that if used properly would give you specific results. He was absorbing it thoroughly and preparing to use that knowledge to take care of the next encounter.

Using this new knowledge the new clone he would make would be perfect. Of course he would have to give up his shadow whenever he used this new clone but in doing so, his new clone would be on par power wise to Naruto. This clone could also take on damage and would only go away if killed or he was dismissed back into Naruto's shadow. He needed to concentrate if he wanted his clone to form at a point somewhere down the shore so that his team mates would not get suspicious. The plan was for the clone to subdue Haku while he accidentally took care of Zabuza, for good. However, Naruto's plans never seemed to go well.

"Hey Dobe!" said Sasuke breaking Naruto's concentration and breaking the connection with the still forming clone. Also, Naruto lost a lot more chakra than he should have. "You've been awfully quiet. Are you scared of the sea or something, scaredy cat?"

_'He disrupted me for something as stupid as that! Damn it, I feel so drained. At this rate I will only be able to do things like I did last time in this fight. Sorry Haku, I'll have to rescue you next time. Damn it, all that chakra and no clone.'_

"Shut up, Teme. I'm not scared of anything."

"Yeah, right." The rest of the boat ride was in silence until they came across the Bridge. Naruto just had to let out a "Whoa!" He remembered how they named the bridge after him and how it had been destroyed after the war started. He would make sure that this one would live on.

As they step onto the dock, nobody (not even Naruto) seemed to realise that Naruto was missing his shadow. They were walking along the path that Tazuna had shown them to get to his home and had just come into view of the lake that Naruto knew they fought Zabuza at. Naruto knew what he did last time and he was not ready to simplify things for himself so he had to do it that way. He took out a shuriken and threw it at the bushes feigning that there was something there.

Like before this lead to Naruto holding a scared white rabbit saying, "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry lil' rabbit" while Sasuke was looking at him in a superior way and Sakura giving him a lecture. Kakashi however was thinking that a white rabbit seemed out of place in the middle of the summer. He heard a faint rustling in the branches of a nearby tree.

"Everyone, get down!" shouted Kakashi. They were all able to make it in time before the large spinning sword cleaved them all in half. It had embedded itself in a tree and a very smug looking Zabuza was standing on it. Kakashi stopped Naruto from jumping into the battle after he had explained that this was Momochi Zabuza, a Missing-Nin of the Hidden Village of the Mist. Kakashi went to lift up his forehead protector.

"Team, surround and protect Tazuna. As for Zabuza, he will have to fight me first" said Kakashi, revealing to all (and Sasuke was especially surprised) his single Sharingan eye.

"Ah, I already get to see the famous Sharingan eye. I am honoured" stated Zabuza. After a quick explanation of the Sharingan and everyone was having their own thoughts, Zabuza dislodged his sword from the tree and landed on top of the water, and went on to perform his Hidden Mist technique, disappearing from sight into the mist.

After they heard Zabuza's intimidating speech about which part of the body he should strike on them, the large wave of killer intent could be felt. Kakashi and Naruto were unaffected but the others were paling visibly and even sweating.

"Don't worry guys, I'll protect you even if it kills me" said Kakashi comfortingly to his team. "I don't let my comrades die."

"We'll see about that" said Zabuza as he landed in the middle of the protective huddle around Tazuna, with his sword at the ready. Naruto had already sensed he was coming and had kicked his team mates out of the way and grabbed onto Tazuna's shirt while he jumped into the air dodging Zabuza. He landed with Tazuna in tow to where his team mates had landed after he had kicked them. He looked back to see that Kakashi had already stopped Zabuza's attack and Naruto did all that for no reason at all.

Zabuza had a kunai in his stomach but he then morphed into water. It was a water clone. Zabuza was behind Kakashi and swung his sword cleaving Kakashi in half. But it was yet again just a water clone. Thus started the fight of water clones which was ended when Kakashi was kicked into the lake and trapped in a water prison.

Naruto had remember the old plan and asked Sasuke for his help in his plan, but he refused and ran off to combat Zabuza on his own.

_'The Dobe saved me back there. I can't be outdone by him. I'll defeat Zabuza on my own'_ thought Sasuke as he drew his kunai and lunged across the water straight at Zabuza only to be stopped when Zabuza wrapped his free hand around Sasuke's neck. The pressure was so much he couldn't move his arms. Sakura gasped at this and feared the end.

_'O crap, I don't have enough energy to take on Zabuza without tapping some from Kyuubi and if I do everyone will know something is up from the weird feel that Kyuubi's Chakra gives off'_ he thought to himself. His eyes widened when he felt another Chakra signature in the area. _'Wait, now there are eight signatures; myself, Sakura, Kakashi, Zabuza, Sasuke, even the small one of Tazuna, Haku hiding in the trees but who is the other one. I'll know soon, it seems to be approaching here at a ridiculously fast rate.'_

Naruto prepared himself into a fighting stance and waited for the worst. This was vastly different from the normal timeline and for once, Naruto didn't have the power of knowing what will happen to help him. What did happen, he was definitely not prepared for.

* * *

Zabuza was smiling under the wrappings that were covering the majority of his face. He had beaten the famous Copy Ninja Kakashi and was about to kill his team in front of him, starting with the one struggling in his free hand. He was applying more pressure to Sasuke's neck trying to snap it. 

But before he could, a foot met the side of his face and he was sent flying to the opposing side of the lake releasing both Kakashi and Sasuke, who were caught by the mysterious owner of the foot and thrown to the shore where Naruto, Sakura and Tazuna were. The mysterious saviour jumped from his position in the middle of the lake to near the shore on the opposite side of where Zabuza landed. He landed atop the water with a practiced grace and held his head high.

The new arrival was as tall as Kakashi and seemed to be in his mid twenties. He was clothed in black trousers that were wrapped around the ankles with dark blue sandals on and a black fishnet shirt. On top of that was a short sleeve black jacket with two orange stripes going down the sleeves. Completing the look was a white sleeveless jacket that reached his knees with flame designs along the hem and a red spiral insignia on the back. The jacket was held together by two orange drawstrings that also draped across his shoulders onto his back holding in place the dark coloured scabbard of a ninjaken, a straight and shorter version of the samurai's katana. At his neck was some cloth similar to Kakashi's except at the moment it wasn't being worn. His long blond hair was being held up out of his face by a blank forehead protector. Many different thoughts were going through people's heads at the arrival of this individual.

_'He looks strong. Damn it, there are so many people stronger than me. I have to get much stronger if I will have any chance of killing Itachi'_ thought Sasuke.

'Whoa, he sure is handsome. But not as much as my Sasuke-kun though' thought Sakura with a slight blush on her cheeks.

_'What is he? I couldn't even sense him coming until I saw his foot connect with Zabuza's face. Also he looks so much like the Yondaime… but it can't be him'_ thought Kakashi.

_'Wait he's wearing my exact style of clothes from before I made the time jump, but how could that be? One thing I do know is that, I've never handled a sword before. He does look familiar though'_ thought Naruto.

As the figure swivelled his head to look at Naruto's group, they could see his deep blue eyes and he said, "Sorry I didn't get here sooner. When I was dropped in Wave Country, I ended up fifteen miles down the shore. I'm here now though."

_'Wait, could that mean that he could be my clone…'_ thought Naruto. _'But how, he doesn't look like me now and I didn't finish forming him.'_

Zabuza had finally gotten up after recovering from the effects of the blunt force trauma he received to his face. He looked around and saw the new arrival, figuring out that he was probably the one who had disrupted him in the process of killing. He shouted across the lake to him, "Who the hell are you?"

"Well, ever since I was born I never had a name, but I prefer to be called… Shadow" was his reply. He had a smug smirk on his lips and he glanced slightly at Naruto. This was all the confirmation Naruto needed. _'That's definitely my improved shadow clone, but how?' _

"You honestly think you can defeat me. I am Momochi Zabuza, one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist and also known as the Demon. I'll crush you down" boasted Zabuza.

"I think that's hardly likely. You could barely handle Kakashi when he has only one Sharingan eye. How will you handle someone who has two?" And with that, Shadow's blue eyes grew darker and three black commas lined each iris.

Kakashi and Sasuke were both thinking the same thing. _'What? How could he have the Sharingan? All of the Uchiha's were murdered and the only people left with the bloodline limit are Itachi and Sasuke.' _This new revelation just further proved Naruto's shadow clone theory.

Zabuza seeing the Sharingan instantly went on the offensive by conjuring ten water clones to charge down the lake at Shadow.

"Is that the best you can do? I don't even need my Sharingan to beat these." Shadow bent down to pick up one of the discarded shuriken that was nearby on the shore. He threw it at the centre clone and put his forefingers into an 'x' shape shouting, "Kage Shuriken Bushin no Jutsu!"

_'Wait, that's a Konoha kinjutsu. How would he now that unless he was a Konoha ninja? I definitely know that he is not one of us and he doesn't match the description of any of our Missing-Nin. In fact, the only ninja he reminds me of was the fourth Hokage but he didn't have any surviving relatives and he died twelve years ago sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto'_ thought Kakashi.

The one shuriken became a hundred and totally decimated the water clones and Zabuza had barely blocked all the replicated shuriken that were coming his way. Zabuza decided to really get serious as he strapped his sword to his back and started going through some hand seals. Shadow, on the other side of the lake was going through the exact same hand seals.

At the same moment, they finished their hand seals and shouted, "Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" Simultaneously, two large dragons of water rose from the lake water and smashed into each other cancelling each other in a large explosion of water. When the water cleared, you could see the two combatants at the middle of the lake, both with their swords drawn fighting.

Being forced back by Zabuza's larger sword, Shadow put his hand to the base of his pure black blade and black Chakra leaked out into the sword causing the blade to grow larger in size. When their swords clashed again, Shadow's was a good three feet long and half the width of Zabuza's sword. Zabuza slashed at Shadow only for him to dissipate into a cloud of smoke.

_'That's a shadow clone, like the ones Naruto is so fond of using. How would he know that though? I thought that it was a Hidden Leaf technique'_ thought Sasuke.

Shadow was now above him stabbing down into Zabuza's head. Unfortunately this was another water clone and the real Zabuza was behind him already slashing at his exposed back. Shadow was cleaved in half but fell into the lake as water. _'The damn bastard must have copied my water clone technique like Kakashi.'_

Zabuza was caught unawares by a fist flying at him from the side and was thrown a way away. When he got back up, both of them had sheathed their swords (Shadow's one was back to its normal size). They circled each other and in perfect synchronisation stopped, raised their right arm to their chest in the shape of a seal and their left arm pointed upwards to only fall at their sides.

Zabuza was sweating now at the exertion he had to put forward in this fight and was a bit intimidated by how Shadow was copying his moves exactly like he knew they were coming. _'My movements… He's completely…'_

"… reading them" finished Shadow aloud. Zabuza eyes widened at this. _'What? Is he reading my mind? Those…'_

"… freaky eyes are really pissing me off, right?" finished Shadow again, the commas of his Sharingan started swirling slowly. Zabuza was visibly paling at this but he regained his composure.

"Hey, all you're doing is copying me…" Here, Shadow joined in as well. "You can't beat me, you monkey bastard."

"Damn it, I'll make it so you can never speak again" shouted Zabuza in desperation as he started the fast movement of hand seals that Shadow was copying. Zabuza could see a distorted image of himself behind Shadow.

_'That's impossible. Is that one of his genjutsu?'_ While Zabuza was distracted, Shadow went on to rapidly complete the rest of the hand seals Zabuza was planning to use, and shouted out, "Suiton Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

_'What? That's impossible, I'm the one doing the hand seals, yet I can't keep up'_ thought Zabuza as a large tornado of water stuck him pushing him back until he was caught against a tree trunk. The force was so great, he was hurt all over.

"It's over for you" stated Shadow, drawing his sword and using the same technique as before poured black Chakra into it enlarging it to a katana's length.

"H-How would you know? Can you tell the future?" asked Zabuza, scared of the figure that had beaten him so easily.

"Che, something like that" answered Shadow as he charged down the lake at Zabuza, his sword dragging through the water creating a large path in the water. Before he could even reach him, two senbon needles flew through the air and went into Zabuza's neck. He fell to the ground with blood flying through the air as Shadow skidded to a stop.

"I guess you were right. It was over for him" stated a Hunter-Nin in an amused tone from his place in the trees. Shadow and Naruto knew it was Haku rescuing Zabuza but they weren't going to do anything about it at the moment. Shadow faced Haku and sheathed his sword back to its scabbard on his back.

"Well, since you're here, I'll just leave the rest up to you. A Mist Missing-Nin is Mist business, isn't it?" said Shadow referring to the Hidden Mist insignia on Haku's mask.

"Thank you very much; I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time."

Kakashi had gone up to Zabuza's limp form and check for a pulse. He checked for a pulse and found none. "He really is dead. That mask… you're a Hidden Mist Hunter-Nin, aren't you?"

"You are correct. I am a Hidden Mist Hunter-Nin" replied Haku.

"Hunter-Nin?" asked a confused Sakura.

"Yes, my duty is to hunt down Missing-Nins. I am a member of the Hidden Mist's Hunter-Nin team" explained Haku.

_'From his voice and his height, he's probably not much older than me'_ thought Sasuke. Sasuke glanced at the lifeless form of Zabuza. _'Yet he's a Hunter-Nin and he killed Zabuza. He's not a normal kid.'_

"Who the hell is he?" said Sakura.

"Don't worry, he's not an enemy" reassured Kakashi.

"No, I don't mean that. I mean, Zabuza… a guy that strong was defeated by a kid, a kid like us. We look stupid compared to that."

"I know how you feel, but this is the truth… In this world there are kids out there younger than you, yet stronger than me" explained Kakashi. There were looks of shock on the faces of Team Seven (Naruto was faking his shock).

"Well… It looks like you have everything covered. I must be going now" said Shadow.

"Wait! Who are you? Why did you save us?" asked Kakashi.

"Me? Well, like I said before, I don't have a name, I'm just a shadow. As for why I'm here saving your asses is because you were doing a lousy job of protecting Tazuna. He's important to the future of this country. You guys were pathetic and you expect yourselves to be able to protect him from the ninjas that will be sent after him?" answered Shadow as from his right side, his body disintegrated into black wisps that went with the wind. Naruto noticed that he hadn't a shadow before and that he was regaining one now.

"Che, just remember that I probably won't be here the next time to save you" Shadow warned before he completely disappeared. Naruto's shadow stopped growing now. Information about the techniques used in that fight exploded into his mind, probably from the clone. He couldn't use his own Sharingan before or the other would know but he still seemed to be able to copy those techniques.

Haku was now picking up Zabuza's body. "Your battle is now over… and now I must dispose of this body since it seems to be a body of many secrets. Farewell."

And with that, Haku and Zabuza disappeared in a small gust of wind leaving Team Seven and Tazuna to adjust to what just happened. After a minute, Kakashi walked up to Tazuna and stated in quite a menacing voice, "You and I have something very important to discuss."

* * *

**End Chapter Five**

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
And that's where I leave off. Alot of stuff like the explaination of Shadow, what the team are going to do and why Naruto decides to not off Zabuza now will be explained in the next chapter. This fight went on for a lot longer than I thought that it would do. I hope I did a decent job. I'm not too confident of my fight scenes. So tell me what you think in your reviews and if you can, could you give me some suggestions to improve my work as well. That would be much appreciated.**

**Hoping to write soon  
Deranged Without Glasses**


	6. Hearts Alike

**Standard Disclaimers Apply**

**Author's Notes:  
I would just like to take a moment to thank all of you who have reviewed my story because at the time of me posting this, this story has just reached 100 reviews with a review from 'the DragonBard'. Thanks to you all and to my readers as well. It's nice to feel appreciated. Anyways, as I had promised, here is the next chapter, earlier than I usually post it. This chapter is quite big, alot bigger than my previous chapters at around 4000 words so I hope you like it. Anyways, enjoy!**

**_

* * *

_ **

_Chapter Six  
Hearts Alike_

* * *

**We should not shed tears  
That is the surrender of the body to the heart  
It is only proof  
That we are beings that do not know  
What to do with our hearts**

**-Bleach Vol. 7 the Broken Coda-**

* * *

"Remember, I probably won't be here the next time to save you" Shadow warned before he completely disappeared. Naruto's shadow stopped growing now. Information about the techniques used in that fight exploded into his mind probably from the clone. He couldn't use his own Sharingan before or the other would know but he still seemed to copy those techniques.

Haku was now picking up Zabuza's body. "Your battle is now over… and now I must dispose of this body since it seems to be a body of many secrets. Farewell."

And with that, Haku and Zabuza disappeared in a small gust of wind. Kakashi walked up to Tazuna and stated in quite a menacing voice, "You and I have something very important to discuss."

"What do you mean?" asked a quivering Tazuna.

"I mean that we were never told that there would be ninjas after you. Our mission was simply to protect you from bandits and thieves until you completed this bridge. This has now become at least a B-ranked mission. If you had told us about the ninja, it would have been set as one and a higher level team would have done this mission. I'm sure you had a reason but problems occur when you lie about the mission parameters. We are now operating out of our duties…"

"Maybe we should just quit" said Sakura. "I mean we barely survived that attack and that was only because those two other ninjas arrived."

"Hm, maybe it is too difficult for this team" mumbled Kakashi.

_'Oh crap, I forgot, we went on to finish this mission after we defeated the Demon Brothers. By changing that I may have jeopardised this mission'_ thought Naruto. _'I got to make sure they keep going.'_

"No! We were given a mission and we accepted" said Naruto. "So what if the details have changed and now there are other ninjas involved. If we're not strong enough, we'll get stronger. There is no way I'm going to give up this mission. With Tazuna's bridge, Gatou's iron hold on this country will break and the people will prosper again. This country needs that bridge or it will crumble under the weight of poverty. We can't let that happen."

"H-how do you know about this? How do you know about Gatou?" asked Tazuna. Naruto seemed a lot more different to him now; he was someone he could respect, not the midget he had labelled him as.

"I'm a lot more informed than most people make me out to be, you know?" said Naruto with a smile on his face.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" asked Sakura. "Who is this Gatou?"

"Isn't Gatou the head of Gatou Companies, the wealthy shipping magnate?" asked Kakashi. "He's said to be of the world's few extremely wealthy people."

"Yeah, well officially Gatou runs a shipping company… but behind the scenes, he sells drugs and other illegal items, using ninja and gang members to take over businesses and countries. He's one nasty piece of work" explained Naruto. "I'm sure you could explain what this all has to do with Wave Country better than I, Tazuna."

"Well, you see it was about a year ago when Gatou first set his sights on Wave Country. Through money and violence, he quickly gained control of all the industries. Gatou now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge" said Tazuna.

"Oh, I see; since you are building the bridge, you're in the way so he sent ninja after you" said Sakura.

"But what I don't understand is… if you knew ninja were after you, why did you hide that fact when you hired us?" interjected Kakashi.

"The wave country is super poor. Even the Feudal Lord has no money so even if we couldn't afford a B-ranked mission. If you quit now, I will definitely be killed" replied Tazuna.

"But you won't because I'll continue. Guys, I will understand if you don't want to continue but whether you are going or not, I still am" said Naruto, trying to guilt them into it.

"Naruto, you can't. They'll probably send more ninjas like Zabuza to kill him and they will surely kill you too. What will be the point?" asked Kakashi.

"The point? The point is that I can't let something like this happen. If I walk away now, I could never live with myself. If I do this there is always a chance I can get through it. Besides, it's the right thing to do" continued Naruto.

Kakashi sighed. "Well then, if it's okay with Sakura and Sasuke, then we will continue this mission then."

Sakura immediately accepted the mission, moved by Naruto's and Tazuna's words. Sasuke said, "Yeah, I'll do the mission; all the better for me to improve."

"Then it's settled, we're going to continue the mission" said Naruto punching his fist into the air in victory. "Let's go then."

After walking for a bit, Tazuna said to Naruto, "If you knew all along that there were going to be ninjas, why didn't you rat me out? Why did you do what you did?"

"Because I have one great weakness that ninjas are not supposed to have" was Naruto's reply, his gaze never leaving the path in front of him.

"And what would that be?" asked Sakura. She was actually interested in what he had to say.

Naruto put one of his fists up to his chest over his heart. "I have too much heart."

"Naruto, you've really changed" said Sakura after recovering from surprise at his answer.

"No I haven't, I've been the same Naruto I've been for years" said Naruto. This was true, for as long as he could remember, Naruto had always had a good heart.

"But all those things you said. They just didn't seem like a thing you would say" retorted Sakura. Naruto stopped in his tracks at these words.

"Well then, I guess there's a side of me you have never seen before, eh Sakura?" He continued on, passed Sakura who was rooted to the spot.

_'When has he ever been cold to me before? And did he just say my name without the chan?'_ thought Sakura.

"Besides, it was like I said… It was the right thing to do" called back Naruto to Sakura. The rest of the walk to Tazuna's house was in quiet.

* * *

They had just arrived at the house and the team were in a discussion about the events that had happened.

"But who was that masked kid?" asked Sakura.

"That masked kid is a part of the Mist Hunter-Nin team. Hunter-Nins are also known as body erasers. Their job is to completely dispose of a body without a trace. A ninja's body has within it secrets of a village's ninjutsu, information about different Chakra types, herbs and other things that will reveal things about a village" explained Kakashi.

"For example, if I died, the secrets of the Sharingan could be revealed. If you don't be careful there's the danger that enemy ninja will steal your jutsu. A ninja's body can reveal a lot of important information. So, by killing and disposing of the Missing-Nins who have abandoned their villages, the Hunter-Nins protect these secrets from getting out. No sound, no smell… that is a ninja's end."

"So that Zabuza has been chopped up and disposed of? Scary" said Sakura.

"Wait. There's something off" said Kakashi.

"What is it Kakashi-sensei?"

"Body erasing teams usually dispose of the body of a person they have killed right there and then" said Kakashi. "But how did that masked boy dispose of Zabuza's body?"

"How would we know? The masked boy took off with the body" said Sakura.

Kakashi went on to explain, "Exactly, if he needed proof that he killed Zabuza, all he would need is the head and destroy the rest where he had died. And the weapon he used to kill Zabuza…"

"Just simple needles" stated Naruto in a calm voice. Sasuke's eyes widened at this realisation, "No way!"

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Sakura in confusion.

"It means that most likely, Zabuza is still alive" explained Naruto.

"What? But Kakashi-Sensei checked and Zabuza was dead" reasoned Sakura.

"Most probably, he was put into a state of momentary death and if he was, he would need a while before his body worked normally again. So in that window, we must train for the inevitable confrontation that will come. Tomorrow, meet me early in the clearing outside the house and we'll find a good training spot for me to teach you."

* * *

Evening had fallen and Naruto was walking through the woods. After getting mad at Inari's utter faith that they would die, he said he needed to get out for some air. He found himself in a clearing a good way into the forest and far enough from the house. Concentrating his chakra into his shadow, he started the process he did to call up Shadow like he did the last time. However, all he had to do was start as his shadow detached itself from Naruto and went a bit away to finally merge into a solid humanoid black form with no feature except a mouth on its face.

"You rang, boss" said the shadow in a sing song voice.

"What the hell are you? In all purposes you shouldn't exist and I have never seen a clone that does not look like the person who made it."

"Well then… I guess I'm just special" said the onyx black figure. "The fact of the matter was that I could not arrive looking like I do now because that would raise too many questions, and I couldn't go looking like you do now or it will blow your cover. You see I'm much more intelligent than those idiots you send to take your place normally."

"If you're so smart, then I'm sure you can handle some questions I've got for you."

"Sure. Fire away."

"How did you handle that sword? I've never used the Sharingan on a seasoned swordsman before yet you were able to fight at an advanced level just hours after you were, as you called it, born."

"Because I came directly from your mind melded with your Chakra. You have not copied the styles of a swordsman but you have seen it, and it has been engraved into your memory, memories that are the bases for me. I can use whatever I learn from your memories."

"The plan was to kill Zabuza. You could have killed him so easily, why didn't you? Why did you resort to the manipulation tactics of the Sharingan? Why didn't you do what I wanted?" asked Naruto.

"Why did I go the roundabout way of using the Sharingan? It is because, they were not ready to see the true power of it, and they were not supposed to see such a display of power at this time. Messing it up too much at this point in time and things will turn out different from how you want it to be. Remember Sasuke didn't take your help this time because he hadn't seen your resolve after the Demon Brothers incident. There are thing to be changed that are big but the little thing have got to stay near enough the same. Why did I not kill Zabuza when I could… because it wasn't what you wanted, Boss" answered Shadow, with a grin on his featureless face.

"What the hell are you talking about? We planned it so Zabuza would be out of the way and Haku could carry on with his life. What do you mean I didn't want it?"

"You, Boss, care too much to simply kill off the most precious person of a person you respect. Killing Zabuza would have devastated Haku. Subconsciously, you cannot bring yourself to do that to him. That's where I came in and did it the way that was necessary. You have too much heart to kill a person who can be saved. Remember his grave near the bridge; remember that in dying Zabuza showed that he truly cared for Haku. We can save him from such fate, so I was just following orders."

"What the hell are you talking about? To ensure the safety of Haku and his future, I have to make sure Zabuza is out of the picture. That's what I wanted. That's what is needed to be done, you idiot."

"Where did it go?" asked Shadow shaking his head.

"What the hell are you talking about now?" shouted Naruto in frustration. The bird in the trees around them flew away at this outburst to the sound of the leaves rustling.

"Where did your heart go? Was it torn from you when your precious people were taken from you? Did it disappear when you were betrayed by your best friend? Did it just fade away, only to be a forgotten memory? You have lost something?"

"No. You have lost something… your mind. I have heart, I care about those I call precious to me, I would have never gone back to do it all again if I didn't."

"Sure, you care for your own but you have lost the ability to properly know what others care about and why they care about it. You have lost your way, and until you regain that, I won't be able to help you again." Shadow was now melting, his form distorting from its shape and shifting into a puddle slowly. "I could teach you many things that are locked away in you, I can be an asset on the field, a great ally but, until you regain that what is missing, that can never be. Train hard Naruto, because without me there, you have very precious Chakra left and you can't resort to Kyuubi in this situation without disrupting your plans. Train hard Boss, because you're going to need it."

And with that, Shadow dissolved completely back into Naruto's shadow and Naruto could feel a large chunk of his Chakra suddenly disappear. Naruto cursed and try to recall his Shadow but nothing happened. After a half hour of trying he gave up and walked back towards the house. _'If you won't listen to reason then I will change, I'll train hard and make sure no one dies when they shouldn't have done. I don't need his help; I can do this on my own.' _

* * *

**Six days later… **

The early rays of sunlight were streaming through the trees of the luscious forest. A boy no older than twelve yet has experienced three decades of misery, lay passed out in the middle of a clearing. His arms were singed and his body was covered in cuts and splinters. It seemed even Kyuubi had left him in this situation.

The morning after the conversation with Shadow, Naruto had sent an enhanced clone to do the tree climbing exercises. He still had more power than he had the first time around, he could do it all on his own. Skipping out on his team, Naruto went into the hardest training regimes that he had learnt through his travels.

From morning to noon, he would run through the forest dragging two tree trunks. From noon until evening, he would practise his kata, the preset movements of his Taijutsu style in perfect time without rest continuing from one set of kata to another without break. From evening to late at night, he would use Chakra to enhance his sense and help him to move about the forest through the treetops, along the ground and sometimes underneath. He barely stopped for food; he had hunted for some food only because it would help his training. He had barely stopped for rest, so here he was now, passed out from exhaustion on the ground.

Haku was walking through the forest in his more feminine clothes so as to make sure that if attacked, he would be underestimated. He was looking for herb; Zabuza would need some more medicinal herbs if he is to be ready for when he wanted to attack the bridge. Haku liked it in the forest; it was quiet and tranquil, and it allowed him to forget that he was a ninja, to forget that he was someone who killed for a living, if not just for a little while.

Haku noticed something weird and out of place in the forest though, she caught a speck of orange. Bright vibrant orange. Haku went to check it out and found a boy about his age lying unconscious on the floor. He noted the Konoha forehead protector and knelt down, his arm reaching for the boy.

* * *

Naruto returned to the land of the conscious to some light pushing and his shoulders and a soft voice ringing in his ears, "Come on, and wake up. You will catch your death of cold if you sleep out here."

When he could see normally, he saw Haku and suddenly remembered that he had met Haku before the last encounter on the bridge. He had been so wrapped up in training to be able to defeat Zabuza that he had forgotten about nearly everything else.

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" asked Naruto trying to act naturally.

"Me? I was collecting some plants I needed to make some medicine. How about you? Why were you asleep here if all places?"

"Me? I was training."

"I see you have a forehead protector. Could you be a ninja?"

"Yeah, I am a ninja" said Naruto.

"Wow, that's incredible. But why were you training?"

"Because I want to be stronger."

"But you already look quite strong to me."

"No. I'm not strong at all really, I've never been strong enough" replied Naruto remembering every single person he had let down in his old life and all the deaths that he could not prevent. "I need to be stronger and that's why I'm training. I need to be stronger to prove myself to others." Mostly he was thinking of Shadow and Kyuubi, he felt so alone without Kyuubi's constant presence and Shadow had insulted him so much by abandoning his Boss.

"Is that for someone else, or for yourself?"

"What?" Haku started giggling at this. "What's so funny?"

"Do you have someone important to you?" said Haku regaining his composure. "When people have something important to protect, that's when they truly become strong."

Naruto's eyes widened at this. It was bringing up so many memories that he had tried desperately to forget. Even now, only fragments were coming back.

* * *

_"There is no damn way in hell that you're going to take my brother too…" shouted Temari with her fan in hand screaming out a battle cry as she charged down the corridor. _

* * *

_"Go on Naruto-kun. I have to protect my ninja way. I worked hard to be a ninja and I will die a great ninja today. You will live on to tell stories of what a great ninja I was. I will go out with my flames of youth at their brightest" stated Lee as he turned on his heels and ran in the opposite direction to where they could escape. _

* * *

_"Why did I protect you? Because I couldn't let the next Hokage of Konoha die now, could I?" said Tsunade, kissing Naruto on the forehead. _

* * *

_"Naruto, I'm not abandoning you. I'm making sire you can go on and make me damn well proud of the ninja, no the man that I had raised. I have to do this, Naruto. Please understand" explained Jaraiya from his perch on top of Gamabunta as he started to move against the enemy lines. _

* * *

_"No. No! Why? Why did you do that? Why did you do that for me?" screamed Naruto, the rain pouring down his face mixing with his tears as he held the girl in his arms. Blood was pouring from her wound and was washed away in the small streams that came from the crying skies. _

_"Because I-I l-love you. I always have and I-I'm just sorry I didn't tell you sooner" stuttered Hinata, her breath short as her eyes closed for the last time. She died in the arms of the man she loved. _

_"NOOO!" _

* * *

"Yes, when people have something important to protect, that's when they truly become strong. Do you understand this?" asked Haku.

"Yeah, I understand it well" replied Naruto.

"Then you will become strong" said Haku as he went to leave.

"Wait. I'm Naruto." Haku turned back and smiled, "And I'm Haku. I hope we meet again somewhere." Haku went on to walk away.

"I'm sure we will" said Naruto quietly. "I'm sure we will."

After a few minutes of sitting there contemplating, Naruto's shadow moved itself up a tree and out emerged the sleek form of Shadow resting against said tree. "So, I guess that you finally found what you lost, eh?"

"Yeah, I can't take Zabuza away from Haku. I see that now" stated Naruto in an emotionless voice. "How couldn't I see it? We're the same. Our hearts are alike, we have precious people to protect; precious people we would be lost and broken without. I can't do that to Haku."

"Great. Now that that's settled, we can start to train you and the great thing is, I have to do most of the work. All you have to do is copy…" Two red eyes appeared on Shadows black face; Sharingan eyes. And from this skin started to wrap itself around Shadow and clothes too until he was an exact replica of Naruto with his Sharingan activated. Black Chakra poured from his hand and formed into a black katana. "You've already masked your Chakra and so have I so don't hold back."

Naruto's eyes turned darker and three commas appeared around his irises that started to spin around it slowly. "Let's get this started then, Shadow." He put his left hand over his other hand. He felt a warm fuzzy feeling that he had lost on that night where he had ignored Shadow's advice. Red and blue chakra sparked together on the surface of his hand before black Chakra leaked out becoming a black katana that was just like Shadow's. He took a fighting stance and looked into the eyes of his clone. "Thank you… for saving me from making a big mistake."

"Don't worry about it. I mean, someone has to save your sorry ass" said Shadow and he charged in with his sword raised.

* * *

**END CHAPTER SIX**

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
I know I promised no more flash backs but I just needed those few fragments for emphasis in that last bit. I'm sorry for giving Naruto some Sasuke like moments but I really tried to hone his character a bit more. He should have been a lot more affected by his past/future and this was a good time to develop Shadow as well. I hoped this chapter was good enough for you all. In the next Chapter, I expect that it will almost definately be the final Haku and Zabuza fight. Shadow will not make a big appearence again until near the end of that. After that, we will finally have the Chuunin exams where havok will be recled when people find out that Gaara has deep emotional feelings and Naruto isn't on the same intelligence level as a monkey (Has anyone elsenoticed the drop of IQ in Naruto in the fillers of the anime?). It should be great. Please tell me how I did and how I can improve in your reviews because that would be much appreciated.**

**Hoping to write soon  
Deranged Without Glasses**


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